WHAT ARE THE ODDS?: Four men under dark skies go to an El Cerrito park, shovels and flashlights in hand, looking for buried treasure.

Police arrive. What are the odds?

A cop finds one of the treasure seekers “had mud on their shoes and clothing, but claimed they were in the area for other reasons.”

Odd? Perhaps. His buddy tells an El Cerrito policeman they came to Arlington Park that night in May because someone they met at the Lytton Band Casino in nearby San Pablo (if you bet on this twist, you win) said they had buried $50,000 in the park, loot from a robbery.

Police arrested three men for damaging the park: a 33-year-old Sacramento resident, a 31-year-old also from the Capitol city, and a 25-year-old Vallejo resident. The fourth man ran away.

The Eye is betting the odds of you finding the storied treasure before you join them in the El Cerrito police blotter and at County Jail in Martinez, is, well, not good.

A Lesson in Cracking Nuts: The strangest things can end up in court case files.

Usually they contain damning accusations, personal information, bail receipts, and plenty of embarrassing details. But now and then, a few extra gems sneak their way in.

Take a recent letter to a judge, written by an attorney on a murder case who found himself trapped between a scheduled court date and a prior engagement to watch the San Francisco Ballet perform “The Nutcracker” with his family that same afternoon.

Once he realized the conflict, the attorney was at the mercy of Superior Court Judge Charles “Ben” Burch, who could have ordered the man to appear. Burch is known to occasionally crack a joke or two in court, and maybe that’s why the attorney tried to appeal to his lighter side.

“The name of the ballet is very appropriate to what will happen to me if I stand up my wife and kids,” he wrote, along with a smiley faced emoji.

The case is still unresolved, but the attorney won the battle that day; the judge was swayed, and the hearing was moved.

Civil Civics: During a serious discussion Tuesday about the pros and cons of approving a winter nights homeless shelter in their city, some Walnut Creek City Council members said they govern over a “nice” city that tries to do what it can for its residents — on this night, its homeless residents were the lead topic.

The Eye witnessed some nice behavior on the council dais that night. Early in the proceedings, as Center Repertory Company co-directors Jeffrey Draper and Kerri Shawn were called forward in recognition of Young REP Theater Workshop’s 43 years of service instructing young people in the ways of the stage, Mayor Loella Haskew told the pair, “You get a certificate, and a hug,” and then hugged both.

More than four hours later, long into the discussion of the winter nights shelter, Haskew said she was “shivering to death” as the council chamber grew a bit colder, and felt the need to bundle up. Councilman Rich Carlston, sitting next to Haskew, offered the mayor his blazer to keep her warm. She happily accepted, and wore his blazer the last 20 minutes or so of the meeting.

Staff writers David DeBolt, Nate Gartrell and Sam Richards contributed to this report.